Shock
by StarClan's Nightmare
Summary: Blackstar announced, "We have three new kits born to Tawnypelt. Their names are Flamekit, Dawnkit, and Tigerkit!" Stormfur blinked in shock, and suddenly he felt inexplicably dizzy. ::Oneshot::


**Theoretically, no, Stormfur should not be at this Gathering in **_**Dark River**_** because his name was not mentioned, but technically he could have been. Theoretically, no, Tawnypelt should not be at this Gathering because her kits were recently born—but Blackstar never said **_**how**_** recently they were born. Plus I love StormxTawny, so I have to make it work!**

**Disclaimer: Unless I am secretly Erin Hunter (which means that I have been writing over 20 books without remembering doing so), than Warriors does not belong to me.**

**Shock**

_Stormfur's POV_

_A Gathering at last! _Stormfur thought eagerly as he carefully made his way across the battered tree trunk, already taking in the scents of the other Clans. It was strange, he reflected wryly, how excited he still got about Gatherings, even though most cats, including some of his former Clanmates from RiverClan, were still wary and uncomfortable around him. It was no mystery why. For one, he was half-Clan, a mark of disgrace in the eyes of most. For another, his loyalties had switched from RiverClan, to the Tribe, to RiverClan again, and now lay with ThunderClan. "Very suspicious, indeed," Stormfur had heard Rushtail, a WindClan elder, whisper to a ShadowClan elder at a previous Gathering. "And his mate, that Brook-something!" his companion had replied. "She's hasn't even a proper name, let alone is a Clan cat of any kind." Stormfur had steered Brook away from that part of the island for the rest of the night.

His choice of mate had been a third reason for the awkwardness that still existed. She would always be a foreigner, according to the other Clans. Stormfur knew that Brook didn't like being away from the mountains, because of the views of her kind and the strangeness of the traditions, but she loved him too much to be away from him. But just this afternoon, when Firestar had announced the cats going to the Gathering, hadn't he seen a flicker of relief in her eyes when her name wasn't mentioned?

Stormfur sighed. He longed for it to be like on the Great Journey, where no Clan boundaries existed, where it seemed like they were all one large Clan. Even more he wished he was still on the other "great" journey, with Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight, Crowfeather, Feathertail, and Tawnypelt. Their friendship was so strong, so binding, so true then. Of course, he still was friends with four of them, but it was a different kind of friendship, now that the Clans were restored. Even with Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight things were different: they were mates and, thus, intimate friends; Stormfur sometimes felt like an outsider.

"Hey, Stormfur! Are you going to dawdle on that trunk all night? Hurry up!" the irritable voice of Dustpelt growled behind him.

"Sorry, Dustpelt," apologized the gray warrior, and jumped off the end of the trunk lightly. Many cats were already gathered on the island; the strong stenches of ShadowClan and WindClan hit Stormfur full in the face. _No RiverClan yet_, he thought disappointedly, but headed into the clearing anyway.

He needn't have been so crestfallen, for moments later dozens of RiverClan warriors spilled onto the island. Ears pricked, he searched among them for Mistyfoot, his former mentor's sister. He spotted her neat, bluish-gray ears soon enough, and padded toward her.

"Hello, Mistyfoot," he meowed.

"Stormfur! How nice to see you. You look well. How is Brook?" purred Mistyfoot, with a touch of weariness in her voice. Stormfur noticed that she looked rather haggard and depressed, her tail drooping and ears flat back.

"She's fine. How-" Stormfur began to say, but was cut off by Blackstar's deafening meow, "Let all the Clans gather beneath StarClan!"

"We'd better go," Mistyfoot said, flicking her tail towards the Great Oak. Stormfur nodded, and followed her. They squeezed through other groups of cats, milling to get a clear view of the leaders, and found a reasonably-sized place to sit in. Stormfur edged away from Blackclaw, seated on his right, one of his former RiverClan Clanmates he had never much liked, and listened attentively.

"ShadowClan brings happy news," Blackstar announced. "We have three new kits born to Tawnypelt. They are named Flamekit, Dawnkit, and Tigerkit!"

Stormfur blinked in shock, and suddenly he felt inexplicably dizzy. _Tawnypelt had kits?_ He was dimly aware of the loud meows of congratulations from the other cats, including Mistyfoot.

He hadn't noticed her pregnancy before (it didn't fully occur to him at the moment that he hadn't been to the last few Gatherings), she had never mentioned having a mate, as far as he was concerned. _Tawnypelt has kits. Tawnypelt has a __**mate**__._

Stormfur shook his head, trying to clear it. Why, in the name of StarClan, did he feel so bothered by this news? Okay, yes, he was surprised (_really _surprised) but shouldn't he be happy for his friend? Looking around, he saw Squirrelflight's face; she appeared immensely pleased. Beside her, Brambleclaw sat straight as a stick, but shot a proud glance at his sister.

His sister.

She sat upright, tilting her slender head back, her eyes fixed on the leaders. Her tail was wrapped neatly around her paws, the black tip flicking every so often. Her smooth, tortoiseshell pelt glowed in the moonlight; it even seemed to give off its own sparkling light. Stormfur had never noticed how pretty she was…

"This Gathering is over," Leopardstar announced curtly. Stormfur blinked, trying to group up his jumbled thoughts. He had to go congratulate her quickly, before ShadowClan left. He meowed a rapid goodbye to Mistyfoot, and then trotted swiftly to where Tawnypelt was following her Clanmates to the trunk.

"Tawnypelt! Tawnypelt, wait!"

The she-cat's head turned. "Hi, Stormfur. What is it?"

Stormfur stopped, breathless. "I…just wanted…to congratulate…you."

Tawnypelt's face was blank with shock for a moment; then she purred in amusement. "Oh, yeah, about my kits. Thanks. I keep forgetting I've had them. It's so…strange, being a mother. Not exactly something you'd picture _me_, doing, huh?"

Stormfur forced a laugh, feeling increasingly unsteady on his paws. The sparkle in her leaf-green eyes almost cut his breath short. Mentally, he slapped himself. Why was he feeling this way? Brook was his mate; there was no way he had any feeling for Tawnypelt beside friendship.

"So…how's ThunderClan?" asked Tawnypelt. Was she moving closer to him, or was he just imagining it?

"The usual. Trees; mice; troublesome kits; irresponsible apprentices," Stormfur replied lightly. His stomach churned. Great StarClan, she was so close!

Tawnypelt purred. "Sounds like ShadowClan if you cut out the trees and mice. I don't even vouch for my own little rascals. I doubt they're asleep; I hope Snowbird didn't have too much trouble!"

Stormfur joined in her laughter. Then, abruptly, she asked, "How's Brook?"

Unless his imagination was really acting up, Stormfur swore he saw a flicker of something in her eyes. Was it possibly…_jealousy_?

"She's fine." He could elaborate, obviously, but for some reason he didn't want to. Foxdung! He wanted to screech in frustration, everything was so confusing! "Who's your mate?"

Unexpectedly, a large ginger tom padded up to them. "Tawnypelt, we're leaving now." He narrowed his eyes at Stormfur, and automatically flexed his claws.

"This is the proud father, Rowanclaw" Tawnypelt explained, licking her mate's ear. "I'm coming; keep your fur on."

With one last glare at Stormfur, Rowanclaw stalked back to the ShadowClan cats.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye. See you soon." Tawnypelt looked hesitant, like she wanted to say something else; instead, she stepped forward and rapidly licked Stormfur's cheek. Before he could open his mouth, she turned tail and bounded after Rowanclaw.

For a long moment, Stormfur sat there in silence. Then, he turned his head upward to the stars of Silverpelt and whispered meaningfully,

"Goodbye, Tawnypelt."

**Sigh…if I had my way, Stormfur would run off with Tawnypelt, but what would Brook do without him? Still, what do you think about my little oneshot? Review, if you please! **


End file.
